Nine-Petalled Lotus |XICHENG| (Editing)

02 [Nine-Petalled Kingdom]

The ruins of the Jiang Kingdom's Lotus Pier never failed to amaze everyone looking over. The epic history that its people left behind was haunting enough and such was the magical mystery it held. It was always something that left people charmed for it was a witness of a beautiful tragedy.

"The beautiful tragedy really is breathtaking," one knight sighed in awe as he caressed the top head of his suddenly agitated horse.

"Yeah," the other knight nodded, "If the royal family is alive then I'm sure it would have been more beautiful. Such a waste."

Lan Xichen, whose white horse had been walking far in the front, slowed down to look at a large area covered by a translucent dome; it was a purple barrier, glowing with thunder-like angry sparks, a large but fitting contrast against the darkness of the night.

His knights were not wrong. None of them could clearly see what was inside but the shadow outlines of the structures inside formed quite a magnificent view through the sparks of the barrier. Even the barrier itself was not something they see everytime. In fact, it shouldn't be possible, but since it was here, they could only stare on and admire. Even he, himself, was as mesmerized.

As of the present, their kingdom's Cloud Recesses was acknowledged as the most outstanding heritage out of the three remaining kingdoms on Elyssium continent. However, he heard that the Lotus Pier was built on top of a water body. It was literally a floating heritage. It was quite a unique style that Lan Xichen could bet his life that Lotus Pier could beat the Cloud Recesses.

"I heard Lotus Pier has quite a history. Even more than our own Cloud Recesses. Do tell me their story."

"Indeed. Our Cloud Recesses was burned down once, but the Lotus Pier was burned down twice. When it had been burned for the first time, it was awfully almost ashes. Princess Jiang tried to build it back as a memory of the royal family but the Wen Kingdom ruined it. She sadly died without the joy of leaving a memory for her family. I'm not quite sure about the whole story but that is what the legend says."

While the two knights spoke amongst themselves as though enchanted as they both stared at the barrier, Lan Xichen, on the other hand, resumed his movements. Indeed, it was a sight to behold, but he wasn't really here for sightseeing.

He lightly signalled his horse to move and it responded faithfully. The horse began running close to the edge of the barrier and stopped when they were near enough. The sparks seemed even more violent up close than when they were a few meters away. It looked rather dangerous to touch.

And it really was.

"What about the barrier? How come it's possible?"

"No one knows either but one thing's for sure, the barrier grew on its own when Princess Jiang died. But I think I can recall my grandfather saying something about it. It was something along the lines that every kingdom has their distinct ability and that one of the Jiang Kingdom's defensive ability is a barrier shield called the Nine-Petalled Lotus Barrier. I'm not sure about this but some legends mention it vaguely."

Lan Xichen listened to his knights' conversation before looking up. He subconsciously pressed his lips into a thin line when he saw a movement at the very far top. There was a small opening and the area around it was slowly thinning, almost disappearing.

The barrier was weakening. This was the main issue. Lan Xichen understood that they were scared of what was inside, of what were to happen if the barrier broke. They were clueless of how to act, of what to do, but they seemed to forget that he was just as clueless as they were. He had no power, no magic, not even enough knowledge regarding the fallen kingdom. Whatever they expected him to do, he had no clue nor could he do it.